Getting Hit By a Bus

It's been a couple months since the last post. No excuses, but we've been busy and some fairly big things have happened.


On a Sunday night towards the end of November, I got the call that my father was in a hospital in Erie, PA and it was very grim. Things took their course and it came to pass that I was on my way out of town heading up to the hospital when we got the news that he had passed.


The decision to go meant that I would miss a NFL football game at work. This was to be the first big football game I'd miss in several years. I think I've missed two Falcons games in twelve years and the last one was at least six years ago. The "show life" doesn't really allow for one to take off during events.

Fortunately for me, I've got a pretty competent crew this year. Overall, our crew doesn't change that much season-to-season and we were fully staffed. All but one of the crew members had more than one season under their belts and the one newby is a full-time guy so I had some time to fill him in on all the important stuff. I was confident that everything was going to go alright unless something bad happened and we lost some important system. In that case, they'd miss my years of experience with the building, but they'd get by.

Of course, there were some here who needed a little convincing that everything was taken care of. But what are you gonna do if a guy's got a family emergency?

Our General manager used to have an unseemly habit of asking "The Bus Question". In sports terms, he was asking about his team's depth at your position. "Who else knows how to work this if you get hit by a bus?"

I can't tell you how many times I've been hit by Carl's bus but I can say that it has changed the way I think about training my guys. I try to let all of them in on every aspect of the event day requirements. Our crew is small and our building is big. If one guy is out for a day, we're ok because everybody knows what needs to be done to get set-up for the game and everybody can do most every job. Down two guys is a little tight, especially if things don't go right but we can do it.

I guess I'd like for you to think about what you might do if you can't make it to your gig. What's your back-up plan? Do you know another guy who you could recommend in your place? If you're the main guy, can your guys do it without you? If you don't have any guys, do you have a decent relationship with another operator/provider who can take on your gig so your client isn't left in a lurch? Think about it.

It took me a while to make sure my plans were in place and, as it turned-out, my new #2 didn't really have all the contact information he'd need in case he needed help while I was gone. I'd neglected to make certain he had all that.

In the end, I was able to work that game and left for home a couple days afterward. The bus missed me, but I was pretty much prepared for it anyway. I let the guys work the game while I mostly hung around watching. It was good practice for the future.

Be careful out there and remember to look both ways before crossing the street.